Saturday, August 9, 2008

Unintentional Rory Hayes Birthday Tribute

It did not occur to me until this morning, when I was reading the Edwin Pouncey essay in When the Demented Wented that I'd posted the Rory Hayes piece on Enantiomorphic Chamber on his birthday, which was yesterday, August 8th. I did not know who he was until yesterday evening. They actually mentioned that it was his birthday at the book release event at Desert Island but it did not register. I made plans to go to this event not because I knew of Hayes but because Kim Deitch was supposed to be a part of it. He, however, was MIA. I wondered why legends such as Kim Deitch and Bill Griffith were involved in this, giving a talk about this guy, Rory Hayes. After a quick scan of the book I decided he was contemporary. I was then surprised to learn he died in 1984. The most interesting thing was that he was on the periphery of the original underground comix scene in San Francisco going back to the late 60s. Hayes first comic was published in 1969. Bill Griffith's stories intrigued me so much I got up this morning burning to read the Pouncey essay. Gary Panter, who it seems is a Hayes fan, was in the audience.